The present invention relates to a holding structure for the tremolo bridge of a guitar.
The tremolo bridge for a guitar holds the ends of the guitar strings and provides tension variations in the strings by shaking or vibrating of a bridge tail piece that is integrally connected to the tremolo bridge itself. A tremolo arm connected to the bridge is used to vibrate the bridge. The bridge tail piece has a base, with a front end which may serve as the focus or center for the shaking or vibration.
A hanging part at the lower surface of the bridge base is inserted into an opening in the guitar body and swings along the opening as the bridge vibrates. One end of a coil spring is secured to the lower surface of the hanging part. The opposite end of the coil spring is secured to the guitar body. The tension of that spring pulls in the opposite direction from the tension on the strings of the guitar. The bridge is thereby held by the spring under tension.
In prior guitars, the coil spring has been engaged by forming a hook at the end of the spring in the approximate shape of a right angle key which is inserted into an engagement opening at the lower end of the hanging part. That engagement opening for the hook of the coil spring is formed slightly larger than the diameter of that hook. This leaves room between the sides of the opening and the hook. As a result, when the bridge tail piece is shaken by means of the tremolo arm, an undesired sound, such as a squeaking sound, is produced.
According to the conventional structure, moreover, the positional relationship between the hook and the engagement opening tends to be broken by the shaking of the bridge tail piece, and this is a cause for variations in the tuning of the string.
If the tension of a string is increased in the so-called arm-up of the tremolo arm, in some cases the hook may gradually slide out of the engagement opening of the hanging part, since that movement arm-up is for the purpose of reducing the tension of the coil spring. Because of this, a suitable securement member has been provided in the past, thereby restricting the amount of the said arm-up in substance.